Police have charged a 42-year-old man with first-degree murder in the death of a woman who was found shot to death in downtown Edmonton over the weekend.
Priscilla McGreer, a local writer and college educator, was found inside a vehicle Saturday morning, suffering from fatal gunshot wounds.
Officers had been called to reports of gunshots in the area of 119th Street and Jasper Avenue just before 4:30 a.m., police said.
Streets along Jasper Avenue were shut down to traffic for several hours Saturday morning as part of the investigation.
Police charged Kyle Laumen, of Edmonton, with first-degree murder in McGreer’s death.
Laumen was also charged with aggravated assault and breach of probation.
Kind, empathetic person
Denis Lapierre, executive director of the Learning Centre Literacy Association where McGreer served as an instructor teaching adult students how to read and write, described her as a kind, empathetic person with a passion for learning that inspired her students.
Lapierre said he had known McGreer for most of her life and felt privileged to see her succeed.
He served as her principal when she was just a child attending elementary school in St. Albert and met her again when she successfully applied for an instructor poisition at the centre.
McGreer had been an instructor at the centre for the past three years.
Lapierre said McGreer loved writing, reading and was busy pursuing her PhD in technology and learning in adult education.
“It takes a special kind of person to come in here and, you know, really help the students,” Lapierre said an interview with CBC Tuesday.
“She was wholly committed.
“She was just so highly respected… and she just raised the level of intellectual curiosity among our students.”
He said her presence will be deeply missed among staff and students.
He said staff plan to set up a vigil inside the learning centre before classes resume and will hold a memorial meal so McGreer’s students and colleagues can come together to pay their respects.
“It’s so tragic in so many ways,” he said.
In a statement Tuesday, officials with Edmonton’s NorQuest College said McGreer was a cherished member of the teaching faculty in their university transfer program, where she was a casual instructor.
“Priscilla was a well-respected and well-liked instructor and colleague. She was scheduled to teach English this semester,” the statement reads.
“Her loss, two days before the start of the fall term, is especially poignant. Our thoughts are with her family, friends, students and colleagues.
An autopsy was completed Monday and determined McGreer died of gunshot wounds and that the manner of her death was homicide, police said.
Police said McGreer and Laumen were known to one another. In a statement to CBC News Tuesday, police said the case is not being investigated as a femicide or as a domestic violence homicide.
Extensive criminal history
Court records show Laumen has an extensive court record with convictions for violent crimes.
In March 2018, Edmonton police issued a warrant for his arrest in the stabbing death of Marlon Jair Nunez, days after the 39-year-old was found dead in a basement suite of a south Edmonton apartment building.
Laumen was later arrested and charged with second-degree murder, possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose and interfering with human remains. Court records show all charges in the homicide case were stayed in February 2020.
In a statement to CBC News, the Alberta Crown Prosecution Service said that following the preliminary hearing in the Nunez case, the file was comprehensively reviewed by a group of senior Crown prosecutors and it was determined that there were “insurmountable evidentiary issues” that resulted in there being no reasonable likelihood of conviction.
Court records show Laumen was convicted in July 2023 for assault causing bodily harm and flight from police. He received a 12-month conditional sentence and six months probation in addition to a firearms prohibition. He also received credit for 184.5 days time served.
His previous convictions include aggravated assault and possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose for an incident in 2012. The following year, he was sentenced to a total of 36 months.
He was convicted in June 2013 for failure to comply with an undertaking, breach of of recognizance and for carrying a concealed weapon. He was sentenced to 60 days time served.
He was also fined earlier that spring for causing a disturbance.
Court records in McGreer’s death show he is accused of carrying a prohibited weapon, breaking a court order barring from carrying a firearm and for aggravated assault for attacking another person who was at the scene.
String of suspicious deaths
McGreer’s death is among a string of suspicious deaths in the city over the long weekend that are now under investigation by the city’s homicide detectives.
Around 8:30 a.m. Saturday, officers were called to the area of 104th Street and 85th Avenue, responding to reports of a man in medical distress.
An 82-year-old man, found in the backyard of a nearby home, was taken to hospital where he died of his injuries. An autopsy has been scheduled for Tuesday.
On Sunday, around 7:30 a.m., a man’s body was found in Edmonton’s river valley. Police said his death is considered suspicious and an autopsy has been scheduled for Wednesday.
Later Sunday afternoon, police responded to another fatal scene. Firefighters responding to a house fire in the Montrose neighbourhood, in the area of in the area of 59th Street and 119th Avenue, found a body inside the burning home.
Police said no arrests have been made but detectives want to speak with a resident who captured a video of the fire that has been circulating on social media. An image of the video, shared by police, shows a house engulfed in flames overlaid with text that indicates that the fire was ignited after a verbal argument.
Investigators have not released any details on the identity of the deceased.
Anyone with information on the crimes is urged to contact police or Crime Stoppers.
